|
 Movie A- |
Video A- | Audio B+
| Extras B-
Judi Dench, Jim Broadbent, Kate Winslet, and Hugh
Bonneville
director Richard Eyre | BBC Films (Buena
Vista)
2001 | Drama | R | 90 minutes
Region 1 | DVD-9
anamorphic
widescreen 1.85:1 aspect ratio
| Dolby Digital 5.1
Summary: This is a touching drama based on
John Bayley's novel about his wife, Iris Murdoch. Iris was a world-renowed
English novelist of the 20th Century. As a young woman, Iris is
played wonderfully by Kate Winslet. Kate portrayed a woman that is
well ahead of her time. In academic circles, she was a brilliant
scholar at Oxford. In her private life, she celebrated freedom in a
way that fully satisfies her free spirited demeanor. When she meets
John Bayley (played by Hugh Bonneville), then a young professor of
literature, something about him captured her heart. He was, shall we
say, inexperienced with dating and was pretty much a book worm. Iris
slowly opened his eyes to her world and John eventually came to accept
Iris for who she truly was. John and Iris wed and spent years
together loving each other and admiring each other's work as academics and
novelists.
One day, in late adulthood, Iris (now played by
Judi Dench) developed early symptoms of Alzheimer's disease while she was
still very much in her prime. Her symptoms quickly grew worst and
her illness imposed a heavy strain on her professional and personal
relationships, but especially with her husband John (Jim Broadbent's
Academy Award winning role). As a devoted husband who adored his
wife, John tried his best and exercised much patience with Iris. But
on occasions, Iris' behavior got the better of John. This tender and
sensitive movie exposes a lot about Alzheimer's disease to those who are
fortunate enough to have never witness its tragic and destructive
power. This movie is to Alzheimer's disease, as is A
Beautiful Mind is to Schizophrenia. Like A Beautiful Mind,
Iris is a beautiful tribute to the realities and frustrations
of Alzheimer's disease, portraying the life of the patient and those
close to them in professional and personal circles. If you're into a
serious and heart-felt drama, don't pass up Iris.
Special Features: "A Look at Iris"
featurette; a special message from David Hyde Pierce; "Alzheimer's
Association Honors Iris and Jim Broadbent" featurette
DVD released on 8/20/2002 | Reviewed 9/9/2002
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Additional Notes: Unless we specify otherwise, the
video and audio quality are very good when their grades are "A-"
or better. Only the highest number of channels of surround sound
format is listed (e.g., Dolby Digital 5.1). If there are both Dolby
Digital 5.1 and DTS 5.1 soundtracks, then both are listed. All
DVD-Video discs are backwards compatible with stereo-only playback
systems.
Let us know what you think about this DVD review, write to us at
Editor@TimeForDVD.com.
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Associated equipment used in evaluation: Sony
DVP-S7700 reference DVD player, Sony
KP-61V45 61" rear projection TV (4:3 screen aspect ratio), Sony ES STR-V444ES A/V receiver, four
B&W CDM 9NTs as left/right main speakers
and left/right surrounds, B&W CDM CNT center channel speaker, Monster Cable M-series S-Video cable MSV-500, Monster
Cable Interlink LightSpeed 100 (Toslink) optical cable, Monster Cable
Interlink 400 MKII interconnects, Monster Cable
Original speaker cables in bi-wire configuration with Monster Cable twist-on gold-plated banana plug
connectors, Lovan Sovereign T HiFi audio
rack, and Sony MDR-V600 studio monitor headphones. Our home theater equipment was calibrated
with the Video
Essentials DVD.
Be sure to check out our Top 10 DVDs of the year
2001 and our list of this year's Oscar winners on DVD.
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United We Stand
